Steven Kazan

Steven Kazan is an attorney and lead partner of Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood, located in Oakland, California. The firm's primary focus is asbestos and mesothelioma litigation. Kazan was the plaintiff attorney in some of the first ever damage awards in an asbestos product lawsuit. Litigation related to asbestos injuries and property damages has been claimed to be the longest-running mass tort in U.S. history.[1]

Asbestos litigation

In 1973, Kazan served as the plaintiff's attorney for the first ever damage award in an asbestos product lawsuit. The damage award was $79,000.[2] Then, in 1974, Kazan formed his own law firm and filed suit on behalf of Reba Rudkin, who developed Asbestosis after working for 29 years at Johns-Manville's plant in Pittsburg, California. Following this case, Kazan went on to represent over one hundred Asbestos-affected workers from Johns-Manville plants.[2]

In 1982, Kazan won a $150,000 verdict for Bob Speake, one of the workers from the Johns-Manville plant in Pittsburg. Mr. Speake's case is regarded as a "threshold verdict" because it created the opportunity for punitive damage verdicts against Johns-Manville. Kazan eventually had 393 cases pending against the company.[3] Six months after the Speake verdict, Johns-Manville filed for bankruptcy, one of the first companies to do so as a result of asbestos litigation.[2]

Bankruptcy trusts

Starting in 2000, Kazan was actively involved in working with plaintiffs and defendants such as W.R. Grace, U.S. Gypsum and Federal Mogul in developing a comprehensive solution to compensate the plaintiffs and prevent the companies from bankruptcy.[2] Despite Justice Department Chapter 11 Rules prohibiting serving on more than one Asbestos Trust, Kazan now serves as a Fiduciary on over 25 Asbestos Trusts including Owens Corning, Fibreboard, Pittsburgh Corning, North American Refractories, Western Asbestos Settlement Trust, and many more. Many have charged that Kazan has breached his Fiduciary Duty to Asbestos victims in this role as Fiduciary (Asbestos Claimants Committee Member). It has been estimated that Kazan has misappropriated at least $1,000,000,000 ($1 BILLION) from Asbestos Trusts.[4] In 2020 and 2021, multiple lawsuits have been filed again Asbestos Trusts where Kazan serves as a Fiduciary. In addition, despite Department of Justice Rules prohibiting the same, Kazan has appointed his longtime Asbestos Judge (Ken Kawaichi) as a "Trustee" on Asbestos Trusts where Kazan serves. Kawaichi has served Asbestos Trusts (with Kazan) such as Kaiser Aluminum and North American Refractories and engaged insider dealing. Kazan has diverted millions of dollars to Kawaichi from Asbestos Trusts despite clear prohibitions (money for asbestos victims!). In 2021, North American Refractories was sued by Honeywell related to Trustee and Kazan fraud. [5] In addition, two additional Asbestos Trusts were Kazan serves were sued for Medicare Fraud in 2021 - Thorpe Insulation Settlement Trust (www.tistrust.com) and the J.T. Thorpe, Inc. Settlement Trust (www.jttstrust.com).

References
  1. Rand Institute, 2005
  2. Kostal, Susan. "Mr. Meso". The Bar Association of San Francisco. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. "Johns-Manville-products-Corp-v-Superior-Court". Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  4. "Mesothelioma Lawyer Blog". Mesothelioma Lawyer Blog. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  5. North American Refractories Asbestos Personal Injury Trust v. Honeywell International Case No. 15-00204 (2021), United States Bankruptcy Court (PA, Western)

Further reading
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